The “De Witt Clinton.” Built 1828.
The Fall River Line boats were the pioneers of the modern type of Hudson River steamers, the first of them being the famous Bay State, plying between New York and Fall River. She was 315 feet long and 40 feet beam and of 1500 tons burden. Her engines were of 1500 horse-power. The Bay State, being intended for Long Island Sound work, was much more strongly built than those boats which were confined to the Hudson River Line. This vessel was both the largest and fastest craft of her day. She ran the distance from Fall River to New York in nine hours fifteen minutes, including a stop at Newport. In 1864 she was dismantled, and her hull was converted into a barge, her machinery being placed in a new steamer named Old Colony. Vessels followed each other in rapid succession, but although rival companies sprang up with considerable frequency, few of them lasted very long and their boats, if good enough, were sometimes acquired by the Fall River Company. One of the most dangerous competitors was the Merchants’ Shipping Company, which controlled fifteen steamers, and for which William H. Webb, the famous American shipbuilder, constructed those two historic boats, the Bristol and the Providence. The line lost two or three of its steamers in rapid succession, and had to suspend payment. The Bristol and Providence had each two hundred and twenty-three state-rooms. They were lighted by gas throughout, and were afterwards steam-heated. Each boat carried a band of music, and for the first time on an American merchant vessel the officers and crew were in uniform. In 1883 the first iron steamboat in Long Island Sound, the Pilgrim, was built. She had a double hull divided into ninety-six water-tight compartments. The Puritan followed her. The Plymouth was launched in 1890, and was burnt in dock ten years later, and in August of the following year the present Plymouth was launched. All these vessels were side-wheelers, the later ones being of steel, and having a speed of twenty miles an hour.
One of the finest vessels now afloat is the Commonwealth. She is 456 feet in length, 35 feet moulded breadth, 96 feet breadth over the guards, and has a depth of hull of 22 feet. She has sleeping accommodation for 2000 persons.
Like all steamers on the Fall River Line, the Commonwealth is built of steel. Seven doorless bulkheads extend to the main deck. The hull is double, and the space between the bottoms is divided into a great many water-tight compartments. She has also collision bulkheads on each side at the guards and a bulkhead athwart ship. Her engine is of the double inclined compound type, with two high-pressure cylinders 96 inches in diameter, all having a common stroke of piston of 9 feet 6 inches. The wheels are of the feathering type with curved steel buckets. Besides the usual auxiliary steam pumps, there is a large pump for use only on the fire-sprinkler system. Her speed is twenty-two miles an hour.
During the nineteenth century there was an equally striking development among the steamers of the various lines on the Hudson River. The Empire of Troy, to distinguish her from another steamer called the Empire built in the ’forties and belonging to a rival line, was then the largest river steamer in the world, being 307 feet over all and of 936 tons register. She was quickly superseded by the Hendrick Hudson of the Albany Line, which was the first Hudson River steamer to exceed a thousand tons. This in turn was eclipsed by the Oregon. The St. John, of 2645 tons, built in 1863, was the first to exceed 2000 tons, The Adirondack, of 3644 tons, was placed on the river in 1896, and in 1904 the C. W. Morse, of 4307 tons, appeared.
The “William Cutting.” Built 1827.
The Hudson River boats, after the first or experimental types of vessel, have always been famous for their speed and beauty no less than their comfort. One of the most famous of them all was the Alida. Two others, which raced occasionally, were the Oregon and the C. Vanderbilt, one notable contest in which they engaged being in 1847, for a stake of 1000 dollars. On the way back the Oregon ran short of fuel, whereupon the owners threw into the furnaces the furniture and everything else that would burn which they could lay hands on. The time of the run was 3 hours 15 minutes, which gave an average speed of 20 miles an hour. After the heroic sacrifice made by the Oregonians, it is satisfactory to learn that the Oregon won by 400 yards. The Alida and the Hendrick Hudson raced from New York to Albany, the former doing the voyage in 7 hours 55 minutes, the latter boat being 15 minutes longer on the voyage. The scheduled time of the present Hudson River Day Line steamers over the same water is 9 hours 30 minutes, from which it would appear that the boats of sixty years ago were as capable of fast travelling as are their palatial successors of the present day. One of these, a second Hendrick Hudson, was launched on the Hudson in 1907, a hundred years from the day of the Clermont’s first voyage up the river.
